Behind the Resistance
by statefarmsnake
Summary: Everyone knows about the story of the Resisty and their grand effort to stop the irkens and Operation Impending Doom II. But what about the story of some of the Resisty's key crewmembers and their personal lives together. Learn more about Lard Nar, Spleenk, Shloonktapooxis, Ixane, and more in this sitcom-esque story!
1. Spleenk

Behind the Resistance

The Resisty is Formed

A lot had happened in such a short time. Operation Impending Doom II was initiated and it felt as if moments later, Vort was on the verge of destruction. Several families were separated and destroyed, buildings were crushed, and several Vortians were imprisoned by the species that they thought they could trust and protect them from the world. Irkens had taken so much technology from the Vortians, who graciously gave it all away. Now that technology was used to destroy those that had made it in the first place. It was Vort's final statement to the universe that they couldn't protect themselves.

Though… Lard Nar was prepared to change that. After a long time of recovering from torture and imprisonment, he was prepared to fight back with a large army of allies whose main purpose was to end Operation Impending Doom II and all that it stood for.

At least… he tried, but the large army of allies turned out to be a small bunch of aliens who had little to no military experience. Lard Nar would make it work.

"Shloonktapooxis, can you tell Nulikan that we are going to lift off soon?" Lard Nar asked as he walked over to the mess hall.

"Aww, but I was planning on playing in the arcade on the surface for a little bit," Shloonk said, a small frown on his face, though it quickly bounced back to his normal dorky smile.

Lard Nar sighed. "We've been here too long, Shloonk," he said, his stomach beginning to grumble. "Trust me, when you give out pieces of paper that says 'Do you want to get rid of scum? Join the Resisty' and get rejected, then it gets old really quickly." He grimaced. "Especially when the response is normally something along the lines of 'Well, I already know how to get rid of the scum. Change that stupid name.'"

"It's not so bad, Lard Nar," he said, floating in front of him. "It's better than planet Merk."

"I'd rather not recall…" Planet Merk was a trading planet that was well-known for having one of the most diverse set of species on a single surface in the entire universe. Lard Nar figured that it would be the best place to find at least a couple of species that were affected by Operation Impending Doom II. While that was true, there were unfortunately far more species that didn't care and were perfectly okay with whacking Lard Nar with stuff and tugging on his horns. It turned out that the term 'scum' didn't resonate well with certain species. "I still don't have very much sensitivity in certain parts of my horns. Did they really have to pull so hard?"

"They threw me once," Shloonk said. "While it was fun while I had no control, it wasn't as fun when I hit the side of a building and got spat on by a Plookian."

"A universe that is slowly being taken over by irkens, and we're the ones getting spat on," Lard Nar said. He sighed a little bit. "Fine, we'll stay on Relik for a little bit longer and search for more crewmembers for the Resisty and you can go to… the arcade." He cleared his throat. "Take Ixane with you. She clearly needs a break and I know that she likes winning at things."

Shloonk gave Lard Nar a straight face. "I don't mind losing, but I never forgot the time that she gloated for 20 minutes after beating me at a staring contest."

"You clearly haven't played any kind of card game with her…" Lard Nar said. "Anyways, I'm going to grab some lunch, then I'm going to go back on the surface and get rejected some more." He looked at the fliers in his hand. "Maybe I should change some of these. Actually put the word 'irken' or 'Operation Impending Doom II' on it instead of scum. Perhaps that'll get the point across better."

"I dunno," Shloonk said. "All I know is that it is Cinnamon Swirly Day in the mess hall today, and that I'm going to have only one of those before I leave."

Lard Nar rolled his eyes. "Liar. Last Cinnamon Swirly Day, you stole the entire tray."

"That was never proven," Shloonk said as he began floating past Lard Nar.

"We caught you on video!" Lard Nar exclaimed in a slightly higher-pitched voice as he ran after him.

Shortly after having lunch, Lard Nar, Shloonktapooxis, and Ixane all exited the Resisty ship to wander around for a little bit around the surrounding city before eventually parting ways. Lard Nar went off on his own and began to look for new people to join the resistance. The fliers had a thick black line across the word 'scum' and was replaced by 'irken'. Though, he was convinced that nothing was going to change and everyone was going to be rude to him, despite his effort of trying to protect them from the impending irken attack.

It turned out that someone going around saying that an invasion and the end of the world was coming resonated as a bad thing with the locals and was generally ignored as some CRAZY bantering. Lard Nar thought they should take him far more seriously.

"Hello," he said to a short Mixon, an alien from the planet Mynx. Mixon were known for being short and have intelligence in areas that… didn't really matter. Lard Nar once ended up in a conversation about the preservation of the Alk, which was the Mixon equivalent of the human buffalo. The only different was that this "buffalo" was the size of a small insect and had no positive effects on _anything_.

But Lard Nar was desperate, so he'd accept just about anyone at that point. "I'm Lard Nar. I'm currently a part of a resistance known as the Resisty. We want to be able to defeat the Irken Empire and their growing Operation Impending Doom II, but we need more crewmembers to develop a more sustainable army. Are you interested in joining the resistance?"

The little Mixon smiled a little bit before shaking her head. "No, I don't join anything that starts with the letter 'R'," she said in a light, but sweet, voice.

Lard Nar blinked. "… Why is that?"

She maintained her smile. "Oh, I just think that it sends a negative energy to anything or anyone that is involved. That is why I only devote myself to the RoA. The Rejuvenation of Alks."

Lard Nar's mouth simply hung open, lost for words. He had seen a variety of species and their levels of stupidity, but this was the first time that he was left truly speechless. He just turned to the left and said, "I… I am honestly not this desperate. That was… I don't have words. The only thing I would be able to use you for is to see if I could dumb the irkens down into a coma." With that, he simply walked away, leaving the Mixon in a silent awe.

Lard Nar didn't even want to hand out any more fliers after that. He was just left wondering if he was ever going to find a whole army that was both competent and willing to fight off a whole alien race. The whole thing seemed imaginary and it wasn't likely to happen at the rate Lard Nar was going.

That is… before he saw a tall fellow at the edge of a small merchant town. Brown with a large head on top of a slender body. A grey circle on his forehead above 2 tiny green circles that were his eyes, along with 4 arms and 2 legs. All of this covered in a body-clinging green uniform.

Although Lard Nar had no idea what species he was, he knew exactly who the person was before him: Spleenk.

Lard Nar had somewhat close relations with Spleenk in the past. Lard Nar was the head engineer of a faction on Vort and it was very common for the Vortian engineers to bring in non-Vortians to help assist in anything that they needed. There wasn't a specific standard in what they needed in a helper other than the fact that they needed to be competent enough to hand over some tools and assist in simple tasks, so several species were used.

Spleenk was the one assigned to Lard Nar and his faction. Despite Spleenk's good-heartedness, he was generally ostracized since he was deemed relatively timid and not the brightest of the bunch when he was put under pressure. Though, ironically, Lard Nar found Spleenk to be one of the smartest assistances that he had in his faction. Spleenk's intelligence came out _greatly_ when he was put in a position where he could be confident and comfortable, and Lard Nar was the only one able to make him comfortable enough. Before the attack on Vort, he was always calm and collected and was always willing to be generous and protective of Spleenk.

Spleenk did the same with Lard Nar and they quickly became good friends with each other. In fact, there was a particular closeness between them that some would deem a bit… too close. But the relationship was where they wanted it to be since neither of them had very many friends that they could talk to outside of the workplace.

And now here Spleenk was, living an apparently decent life on Relik. It was the first time that Lard Nar had seen Spleenk since the destruction of Vort. Spleenk had left on a short trip back home to his family while Lard Nar's faction was on hiatus. Shortly after, he returned to a completely different Vort and was the left without a job… and a friend.

Lard Nar was actually hesitant about even approaching. How was he supposed to handle this? He slowly moved, his strides picking up speed with every step. He eventually made it over to Spleenk, who towered over him. Lard Nar was certain that he had gotten taller, because Spleenk was certainly much taller than him.

He waited for him to finish with his business before clearing his throat. Though, it was clearly not loud enough to grab his attention. So… Lard Nar simply resorted to tapping on Spleenk's leg to get his attention. He felt so meek by doing that.

"Hm…" Spleenk murmured, feeling the small taps on his leg before looking down. It took several moments for things to register. Small grey alien… horns… Vortian….. Lard Nar! "Lard Nar!" Spleenk scrambled around for words and for something to do, but a sense of shock left him a bit speechless.

Lard Nar simply waited for him to pull it together because, from his perspective, Spleenk looked almost as if he was having a stroke. It almost got to the point where Lard Nar felt that scared him half to death. He thought he needed to take him to the hospital.

But he finally controlled himself and continued to look down at Lard Nar. "Lard Nar… I didn't think that you were alive. The… the attack on Vort. They attacked our faction. I heard all about it on the news."

"Calm down, Spleenk," Lard Nar said. "As you can see, I am perfectly okay. Maybe a little… messed-up in the head, but I am perfectly okay." He thought for a moment. "But, it's been a really long time, Spleenk. Quite a lot has changed since that attack on Vort, and well… I must admit that I did miss you a little."

Spleenk smiled a little bit. He was still freaking out on the inside because he had just found out that his previous best friend turned out to be alive after several years, but he was happy to see that he had not changed much. "I have missed you too, Lard Nar. As soon as I was turned away by the irken empire… and later realized that the planet was full of ships and destruction, I freaked out that everything was lost." He thought for a moment, then frowned again. "Were you imprisoned?"

Lard Nar looked away for a moment. "For a short time, yes I was," he said. "But I was one of the first to escape, and now here I am about the Resisty." That's when he came back into reality. He looked at the fliers that he held and looked back up at Spleenk. "Oh, Spleenk! You do not know about the Resisty, do you?"

"The Resisty?" Spleenk asked. "I think I might have heard of something like that around town… I thought it was a good name, but everyone else told me I was crazy and that everything about it was garbage and scum. Though… they say that about a lot of the things I say, too."

Lard Nar blinked, unsure of what to say to that, but he had to admit that he was used to the treatment by that point. "Well… it's the organization that I created to stop Operation Impending Doom II. We're going to make the irkens pay for destroying Vort and countless other planets."

"You're going to fight back?" Spleenk asked, interested.

Lard Nar nodded quickly and responded, "You bet we are. Here… why don't I take you back to the ship and show you the crew. I can tell you what you've missed on the way there."

"Oh… well, okay," Spleenk said, putting his hand behind his neck before smiling again. He was a bit surprised that Lard Nar had a sense of enthusiasm even after going through so much, but he was glad that Lard Nar was safe.

Though, Spleenk had no idea that most of Lard Nar's enthusiasm at that point was simply from finding him again. Lard Nar found someone that he had been closer to than anyone else, dead or alive.

Spleenk reached the Resisty's ship with Lard Nar and they turned to each other.

"So, after a long time dealing with the irkens, I decided to form the Resisty so that no one would have to face the pain and suffering that I had to deal with it."

Spleenk nodded. "That… that is a lot," he said. "So, what are you doing here then? The irkens would have no reason to attack a place like this. I would know… I've lived here for a while and there is nothing interesting here."

Lard Nar shook his head. "That's what we were hoping for. We don't want any conflict. We're actually looking for more recruits since we're definitely short. We can't make an army with our numbers."

Spleenk looked down. He wanted to make a funny comment on how they were definitely 'short', but he felt the time wasn't right. "Oh… any luck?"

Lard Nar shook his head. "No, no one is interested in what I have to say. The irkens have not done anything dangerous and evil to them directly, so they feel it's not important." He brought up the flier that he made. "I've been giving this to everyone."

Spleenk examined the piece of paper for a moment before looking at Lard Nar. "I think people should pay more attention to you, Lard Nar." He looked away for a moment. "If you can't find anyone to join the Resisty with you, what do you plan on doing?"

Lard Nar looked down. "I… I honestly don't know." He thought for a moment, then immediately smiled up at Spleenk. "Hey, you should join the Resisty?"

Spleenk blinked. "What? Why do you say that?"

"Well… you aren't happy with the irken empire, and I know that you are a capable engineer and soldier. I even remember hearing you say that you were a navigator once. I would love to have someone like you onboard."

"You give me too much credit, Lard Nar," Spleenk said, frowning. "I have done all of those things, but not very good. And I wouldn't make a good soldier, either."

"And I think you don't give yourself enough credit," Lard Nar said, getting a bit closer to Spleenk. "Come on, what's the big deal? I can get you away from this ridiculous place and you can go to a world where people properly accept you and you're supporting an excellent cause."

Spleenk turned away a bit. "I don't think I'm cut out for it. Besides, people accept me here. Just yesterday, someone told me that my work wasn't the worst that they've ever seen."

Lard Nar crossed his arms. "It sounds like you're just making excuses. Come on, Spleenk. Please. You'd be an incredible asset to the Resisty. I really want you to be there." Lard Nar didn't even consider that he was being pushy, but this was the first time that he had actually wanted someone to be a part of the team since Ixane and Shloonk joined… and they were the first ones to join. He frowned before uncrossing his arms. "Please."

Spleenk shook his head before looking down in shame. "I'm just… not cut out for something like that, Lard Nar. I'm sorry."

Lard Nar sighed before giving Spleenk a slightly disappointed look. "Yeah… sure, sure I understand." He took a deep breath. "Well… goodbye."

"Bye." Spleenk turned around and began to walk away.

Shortly after his short encounter with Spleenk, Lard Nar decided that he didn't want to return to the ship and ended up going to the arcade where Shloonk and Ixane were. They were playing some kind of competitive fighter game against each other. While Ixane was playing the standard way, Shloonk had to use a device that "connected" him to each of the game machines. Then he could use his mind and thoughts to press the buttons.

Definitely a good way to accommodate aliens who didn't have hands.

"I just don't see what he is so afraid of," Lard Nar said. "I was so confident that he would say yes and join the Resisty with no hassle since we were such good friends in the past. But… he said no. Who does that?"

"Nooooooo!" Ixane exclaimed as she threw her arms up into the air and stepped away from the arcade machine. She turned to Shloonk and yelled, "You're clearly cheating."

"You're just really bad at this," Shloonk said, sticking his tongue out in a silly matter. He then turned to Lard Nar and said, "Lard Nar, it doesn't really matter that Spleenk said no. A lot of people like him has said no on this planet. It's not like it's anything different for you."

"But Spleenk is different," Lard Nar replied, sighing. "We were friends and he should join."

Ixane put some coins into the machine and said, "If I didn't know better, I'd think that you like him, Lard Nar."

"That's ridiculous, why would you think that?" he asked.

Ixane chuckled as she and Shloonk went into another game. "Do you?"

Lard Nar sighed as he sat on the table next to the video game machine. "Yes… as a friend, nothing more."

Ixane gave Lard Nar a look that showed that she didn't at all believe him, but she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I know you, and I know that if you have a friend, you wouldn't let them just say no."

"Well, he did, and well… that's that," Lard Nar said, sounding a bit defeated.

"Alright, but I think…. But I think… there, look at that!" Ixane exclaimed, pointing to the screen. "Clear cheater!"

"You're just a sore loser!" Shloonk yelled back.

Lard Nar wanted to continue the conversation, but Ixane and Shloonk were currently battling each other and neither one of them were letting up. So… without either of them knowing, he slipped out of the arcade and began returning to the ship.

He walked and thought about what Ixane said to him. Though, despite what she said, there was no way that Lard Nar would go back to the marketplace and beg for Spleenk to join the Resisty with him. He wasn't that desperate.

But… it also got him thinking of what it would be like to actually have someone on the ship that thought of him as a friend on the Resisty ship, other than Ixane and Shloonk. Someone he could connect with on a closer level…

…Then it didn't seem quite so bad to go back and beg for him to join. But he wasn't going to.

That's because he didn't have to. As he reached the ship, he noticed a familiar tall, brown alien standing at the entrance, slowly and awkwardly waving at him as he approached. "Spleenk, what are you doing here?"

Spleenk sighed. "I wanted to apologize because I panicked and left when you asked me to join. I just… I just wanted to tell you that I'm too afraid to join because I'm just not powerful enough to be part of a resistance thing like that."

Lard Nar had a lot to say. He wanted to say that Spleenk was fully capable of fighting several armies. He wanted to say that Spleenk was fully capable of saluting for diplomacy and getting the irkens to stop their attack. But… he had already tried those things… and he had to try something new. Something that he fully believed to be true. "I don't want you to join because I believe that you would be an incredible asset to the team.

Spleenk blinked. "Huh?"

He sighed, looking away from Spleenk. "Spleenk, I want you to join because you're one of the few friends that I have ever made and kept in the course of my entire life. I want to be able to see you on the ship and talk to you during breakfast on the mess hall. I want you to say something snarky whenever Shloonk says something stupid and I can't find anything to smack him with."

Spleenk chuckled a little. He had no idea who Shloonk was, but he figured that he was going to really soon. He knelt down and tried to connect his eyes with Lard Nar. "Is all of that true?"

Lard Nar froze for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Yes, all of it is true. I think that you could be powerful and a good asset of the team, but… I want another friend on the ship, and I KNOW that you're good at that."

Spleenk smiled and thought for several moments. After all of that, he finally nodded and said, "Okay… I'll join."

Lard Nar felt so relieved to hear those words. He let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "That… that's so great to hear!" He thought for a moment, then practically lunged at Spleenk, wrapping his arms around him in a soft hug.

Spleenk was surprised by the action, but then returned the hug.

Spleenk, Shloonk, Lard Nar, and Ixane clinked all of their glasses together. They were all in the mess hall, in the center table amongst much of the other crewmembers who were dedicated to their own conversations. Each alien had their own drinks. Shloonk had some kind of alcoholic drink, Ixane had some kind of purified water that was specifically made for her species, and Lard Nar had a sweet drink with a mixture of vanilla and chocolate. Spleenk had the same thing as Lard Nar, but… Shloonk slipped a little bit of alcohol into his drink. Ixane saw him do it, but she wasn't going to punish him until they were in a less… populated place.

"Well… here's to our newest member: Spleenk," Lard Nar said, smiling at Spleenk.

"It's a pleasure to have you a part of the team, Spleenk," Ixane said. "I'm sure Lard Nar looooves it."

Lard Nar glared at Ixane and gently kicked her under the table. "Yes, Spleenk. I am glad that you joined."

Spleenk smiled and took several sips of his drink. Shloonk couldn't help but chuckle every time that he took in the drink. "Well, I'm glad to be here." He pointed to his drink. "I think I'm going to get this more often, Lard Nar. It is really tasty."

"It's just chocolate milk with just vanilla," Lard Nar whispered to himself.

Shloonk chuckled some more. "To Spleenk."

Everyone raised their glasses again. "To Spleenk."

* * *

 **Quick Q &A**

 **1\. Will this story be canon?  
** Mostly, yes. The characters will be similar to the way they are in the show (even though most of them have only showed up in one episode, or not at all). The story is somewhat coherent to the canon story, but there will be changes in order to keep things... well, interesting.

And that's it. Told you it was a quick Q&A.


	2. 777

Behind the Resistance

777

Lard Nar woke up eagerly the next morning. It was early (nothing new for him), and he was ready to leave the planet in search of new recruits.

For now, he put on something comfortable: a dark-blue shirt that was a bit too long for him and grey sweatpants that fit comfortably on his waist. Lard Nar was always keen on looking professional on the ship, but everyone wore more casual attire throughout the morning as they tried their best to down caffeine and wake up. This day was no different.

Lard Nar slipped out of his quarters and sluggishly walked down the hallways over to the mess hall. There were already some people there, eating various treats and drinking coffee and other beverages. He was going to simply grab a tray and eat something before heading towards the Bridge, but then he noticed Spleenk sitting at one of the tables. He seemed to hang his head more than usual and he looked a bit ill, if not extremely tired. Lard Nar blinked and headed in his direction. He stopped right in front of him and asked, "Is this seat taken?" He referred to the seat across from Spleenk.

Spleenk quickly looked up at Lard Nar, almost shocked that there were other people in the mess hall other than him. "O-oh. No, Lard Nar. It's not taken."

Lard Nar sat down and placed his hands onto the table. "So how was your first night on the Resisty ship? You look, um… excellent."

Spleenk would've chuckled if he had the energy for it. "It was okay. I like my quarters, but I couldn't sleep at all last night. My body was just… awake and I had to pace around my room in order to calm it down." He stared down at his food, almost looking as if he would plop right into it if he were pushed even slightly. "I think it was because of my drink last night. It did taste a little funny."

Lard Nar blinked. Shloonk _was_ the one who prepared all of the drinks and he was wondering if he did anything to Spleenk's. It wouldn't have been the first time. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Perhaps you can return to your quarters and get some more rest. We aren't doing anything entirely exciting today as far as I'm concerned." He cleared his throat. "Though… considering what we've been doing, we can't really describe anything as… exciting."

Spleenk shook his head before eventually grabbing a fork and digging into some of the slop on his plate. It was very clear that Spleenk's diet was entirely different than Lard Nar's, because Lard Nar wouldn't go anywhere near it. Though, Spleenk seemed perfectly delighted by it… even if it took him almost an entire minute to just get the fork of food into his mouth since he was so tired. He finished chewing and said, "No, I can survive a couple of days without sleep. I just need something to give me some energy before going forward with my day."

"Well, you should try Ixane's coffee," Lard Nar said. "The caffeine in that stuff is so potent, you'll have enough drive to last you several days." He wasn't entirely serious, but Ixane's coffee was given the name 'Crazy Coffee' for a reason.

"I'll be sure to try it," Spleenk said.

"Yes, but be sure to try it in small doses," someone said. They both looked to their right to see Ixane join them at their table. "I've seen people drink it all in one sitting and… they weren't themselves for the rest of the day."

Lard Nar blinked. "What do you put in that coffee?"

"It's a secret," said Ixane. "If you all knew, then you would all try to make it and then everyone would be perky in the morning. I don't want that." She cleared her throat. "Besides… I think that my recipe can be possibly weaponized, and it could even be a bit flammable and explosive."

Spleenk simply blinked as he took another bite of his food. "Um… I'm good, thank you."

Lard Nar chuckled. "Okay, well… while I have all of you here, we're taking the ship over to Stradus, where we'll see if we can convince the Stratos people to join the Resisty."

Stradus was a lesser-known planet that had populations less than a quarter to that of Vort. Though, that meant that there was more of a collective sense, and each collective had a specific intelligence. Each of them met in a group and provided a pool of resources and information. Even though they were a lesser-known planet, they were still held as one of the top ten most resourcefully-successful planets in the galaxy.

"Why Stratus?" Ixane as she took a sip of her coffee.

"We received word that the irkens have them as a target. The invader has already slipped up once and accidentally revealed themselves to some of the locals," Lard Nar explained. "I don't know how much of this true, but we could at least try to get them onboard. Their intelligence and collective minds could be very useful."

"I'm not sure that they'll be very willing since they like to stay with their collectives," Ixane said. "But if it's true that an invader has revealed themselves, then you may find some Stratos who pride in bringing protection to their planet."

"And that's what I'm going to hope for," Lard Nar said. "I even have a couple of speeches prep-."

"Hey guys!" Shloonk exclaimed, floating towards the group.

Lard looked up, a bit irritated that Shloonk. He noticed that the floating was looking at Spleenk. "Good morning, Shloonk. Care to stick around? I'm briefing everyone on our visit to Stradus."

"Yeah, in a second," Shloonk said as he looked at Spleenk. "So, Spleenk. How are you doing this morning? How did you sleep?" Shloonk was a bit of a prankster and liked to make sure that at least a little of his dirty work had some kind of effect.

Spleenk looked up at Shloonk, and his face was a bit dead. Spleenk had some food caught onto the edge of his lips. "Fine," he said softly before looking down at his food again.

"Leave him alone, Shloonk," Lard Nar said, "and if you slip something into his drink again, I'm going to throw you out of the ship on Foodcourtia and pick you up in a few weeks. We don't need this kind of treatment."

"He did what to my drink?" Spleenk asked.

"Nothing!" Shloonk exclaimed. He turned back to Lard Nar and said, "Anyways, Lard Nar. Encephalo wanted to tell you something up at the Bridge. Apparently he discovered something last night and he wants your orders on something."

Lard Nar blinked as he thought about what Shloonk just said. "Oh, well… okay." He looked at Spleenk, then at Ixane. "Ixane, give Spleenk some of your coffee, please? He's starting to look like a zombie, and I don't really allow the undead to roam around the ship."

"You got it, Lard Nar. Alright, Spleenk, get ready to be awake. Shouldn't take too long." She exited the table with Lard Nar, getting up to prepare her special 'Crazy Coffee'.

Lard Nar walked down to the Bridge and entered from the back. He walked to the front of the ship and examined everything. There were a few others that were in there, but most people were either still sleeping or eating in the Mess Hall.

Lard Nar noticed Encephalo at one of the long-distance navigations panel. He was a creature that didn't have a head, simply a floating brain that was, in some way, attached to gold, green, and blue armor. "Encephalo, you said you found something? Please tell me that this is good news."

"That is subjective," Encephalo said in a low and robotic voice. "I have been keeping up with the extreme high-maintenance prison on Vort and I discovered a breech in one of the corridors."

"That sounds like good news to me," Lard Nar said. "Does that mean there are people in the prison escaping?" He looked at the panel and saw the breach in the corridor. It was large, but it was only one side of the prison.

"Yes, a few of them have already escaped," Encepahlo replied. "I do not recognize very many of them, but I assumed that you might know some, so I managed to grab a few pictures. Here is Prisoner 643." He presented a picture of a pink Vortian.

Lard Nar shook his head. "No."

"Okay," he said. "Well, here are Prisoners 648, 702, and 777."

Lard Nar didn't recognize the first prisoner either, even if he was also another grey Vortian just like him. He also didn't recognize Prisoner 702, especially since they were some kind of crystalline species. Though… 777 looked somewhat familiar. "Him… oh, wow. It's been so long since I've seen him."

Lard Nar turned to his left, and then his right until he saw another crewmember wandering around the Bridge. He waved for the gentleman, a friendly Frypson from planet Fry, to come closer. "Can you bring over Spleenk, Shloonk, and Ixane? They should be in the Mess Hall."

"Yes, Captain," he said with a dignified tone before walking quickly out of the Bridge.

"Ixane, can you please keep Spleenk still?" Lard Nar asked.

"I'm sorry, but he drank a bit too much coffee, and it's going to take some time for it to settle," Ixane said as she tried to calm down Spleenk who was shaking a bit wildly and had an urge to move around. She didn't have much luck since she was so much shorter than he was.

"I-It's okay, Lard Nar," Spleenk said with a big smile on his face. It was clear that he was once again awake. "I'm f-fine, really. I feel a lot better now, actually. You w-weren't kidding about this stuff. It's GREAT!"

Lard Nar couldn't help but chuckle. It was the first time that he had seen Spleenk so active, and it was amusing.

Lard Nar immediately tried to get himself into a more serious mood as he pointed up at the screen. Prisoner 777's face was still on it. "Spleenk, do you remember him?"

Spleenk looked up at the screen, his shakes visibly starting to go away as he focused more. "Isn't that Wally, one of the engineers in the neighboring factions? Yeah, I remember him. He was nice."

"I agree," Lard Nar said, "and his engineering skills hold up. He was actually one of the engineers for the Massive alongside me. And thanks to Encephalo's attentiveness on the Vortian prison, we might have a chance to save him, along with several other Vortians."

"Wow, that sounds great," Spleenk said, brightly.

"Yes, that does sound great," Ixane said, "but don't you think that that can be potentially dangerous, Lard Nar? Vort is one of the heavily-guarded planets in the universe, and it'll no easy task to get a bunch of Vortians to board the ship."

"We're going to have to be as cloaked as possible, but I believe that we can manage it," Lard Nar said. "I've already have a plan in mind for the four of us and a few others."

Lard Nar brought everyone closer. "Encephalo will run most of the ship's core systems. I trust you with the ship while we're on the mission," Lard Nar said, turning to him. He then turned to Shloonk and Spleenk. "Shloonk, I know you're good at hacking systems. We're going to need as few visuals on us as possible, so I need you to disable as many cameras or visual systems as you can. Spleenk can go and assist you."

He turned to Ixane and said, "Ixane, I need to round up a small team of your own. You're going to be the stealth team in order to free as many prisoners as possible without getting caught. But I'm telling you now, if you do get caught at any time, I DEMAND that you abort the mission and return to the ship in the most discreet fashion. We want to gain people, not lose any."

"Yes, Lard Nar," Ixane said, nodding her head. "What are you going to do? Are you bringing anyone?"

"I'm going to remain by the shuttles and ensure that everyone is safely on-board," Lard Nar said. "I'll be in the line-of-fire, so hopefully I'll direct the attention away from you, Ixane."

"That seems a little dangerous," Spleenk said, a concerned look on his face.

Lard Nar nodded. "Yeah, it is a little dangerous, but… I feel obligated to save everyone in that prison. I was fortunate to be able to escape so early, and there are so many in there that should be free, too." He looked away. "And this is the best chance that we have to get some recruits on this ship. Many people will escape today, and I'll get a lot of them to join the Resisty. I'll return anyone who isn't interested back to a safe planet, but… I'm hoping to get as many people as possible."

"Okay," Spleenk said in a soft voice.

Lard Nar looked at the four of them and asked, "So are we clear on the plan?"

"Yes," they all said at different times and tones.

"Then let's go to Vort," Lard Nar said. "We have a lot of work to do."

Encephalo brought the ship over to Vort, taking only a couple of hours until the planet was finally in view. They had a full layer of cloaking devices around it and they were absolutely certain that they were not visible to the irkens. Lard Nar was fortunate to have worked with the irkens in the past. He got to learn how all of the technology worked and how to work around it. He knew how to sneak by without the irkens knowing that they were even there.

"There's a lot of energy coming from the breech in the prison," Encepahlo said, putting it on screen. "There are a lot of people still running around. The prisoners and several irken soldiers. You're going to have to be more careful."

"Then we need to act quickly," Lard Nar said. "We came here at an optimal time and now we just need to stir up a bit more activity so that none of those prisoners get killed." He grabbed himself a laser gun and wrapped the holster around his shoulder. "Everyone to the shuttle bay. Quickly."

The crewmembers on the ship began to scurry, all moving in a towards the various shuttle bays.

Lard Nar yelled ahead. "Remember that this mission is about stealth and staying as safe as possible. If you are in danger, do yourself a favor and ask Encephalo to beam you up. We want as little injuries as possible."

Everyone listened to Lard Nar's words echo through the corridors as they disappeared around sharp corners. Lard Nar smiled, enjoying this part of being a captain. He actually felt like he had some kind of control over the situation. He turned and entered a door into Shuttle Bay #1 where his own personal ship was docked. He and 777 had built it together. Now he finally had the opportunity to save him with it.

Lard Nar stepped into the ship and turned it on, almost immediately floating out of the chamber and out into space. Several other ships flew behind him, though they immediately put on cloaking devices so that they couldn't be detected before they landed. Lard Nar didn't have the numbers to fight against the irkens, so being sneaky was the best way possible.

Lard Nar went through the atmosphere of Vort and eventually touched down. Things were in complete chaos. There were irkens running around with weapons in their hands. They were shooting at several different species in dark prison outfits, though thankfully most of the prisoners had a decent sense of agility to avoid the shots. However… some of them weren't so lucky and fell to the ground… dead.

As much as Lard Nar wanted to go and save them, he had to wait in his ship until he was given the signal. The signal meant that the cameras were down and there would be no detection other than the irkens that spotted him.

Thankfully, he did not have to wait very long. A minute after he landed, he got a beeping sound on his console. People were now able to escape. "Oh, Shloonk, I knew I could count on you to do this quickly," Lard Nar said softly to himself. He grabbed his weapon and quickly stepped out of his ship. He aimed the weapon in front of him and managed to shoot one of the irkens pursuing the many prisoners. A couple of them faced Lard Nar as soon as the irken soldier fell. "Everyone to my ship! I can bring you to sanctuary."

They didn't even think twice before running towards Lard Nar and stepping onto his ship. They hardly knew who he was, but he was a free Vortian and he had a weapon that could protect them. He was now their savior.

As they piled onto the ship, Lard Nar made a few well-placed shots, downing a few more irkens that were trying to follow the former prisoners. He walked forward, yelling more for people to join him on his ship. There were a few shots for him and he was thankful that they were made in poor aim. Lard Nar took a few shots, bringing down some of the pursuing irkens.

As the mission started, Spleenk and Shloonk went to the control room on the Resisty ship, attempting to hack into the irken security system. Lard Nar had shown Shloonk a lot about the irken's codes and security systems, so it was clear that he would be an expert on it. Spleenk also knew a thing or two, but he only knew the basics. He felt a bit useless as Shloonk did all of the work.

In a very short time, Shloonk managed to break through the irken's wall of codes and hacked into the security system before shutting it down. He disconnected himself from the console and said, "Well, that was easy. Great job, Spleenk!"

Spleenk put his hand behind his head, chuckling a bit. He didn't do anything. "Heh, thank you."

Shloonk floated over to the window on the far side of the room. Because of the angle of the ship, they had a decent view of Vort. Spleenk joined him and said, "You're very good with security systems."

"Thanks!" Shloonk exclaimed with a joyous tone. "I learned a lot from my species, but Lard Nar taught me a lot of cool stuff about irken technology, too."

"Yeah, Lard Nar taught me a lot of stuff while we were on that Vort faction," Spleenk explained.

Shloonk turned to Spleenk. "Yeah, that's what he told me last night. We talked a lot about you after you left for your room and went to bed."

Spleenk blinked. He seemed a bit confused. "Lard Nar talked a lot about me? Well… we are just friends."

"Yep… just friends," Shloonk said with a slurred tone before winking at Spleenk. It was mostly passed off as a joke, but Shloonk wondered how Spleenk would react.

"Why do you say it like that?" Spleenk asked.

"Oh, maybe you'll find out one day. If Lard Nar ever gets the courage to tell you." Shloonk's smile became a bit more devious.

"What does _that_ mean?" Spleenk asked, even more confused. More questions and no answers.

"Don't worry about it," Shloonk said.

Spleenk sighed. He had only been on the ship for one day, and he was already extremely confused what was going on. He and Lard Nar were… just friends. Perhaps? "Fine… let's just hope that they all make it back safely."

"Lard Nar's not stupid. He'll make it back," Shloonk said.

Spleenk looked over at Shloonk with a strange look. That was the most serious thing that he had heard him say. Shloonktapooxis gave off a silly prankster vibe, though Spleenk wondered what other kind of emotions are lying behind the dorky smile that he constantly had on his face.

Ixane quickly ran through the corners. With Lard Nar creating a bunch of commotion in the front, it was easy for her to get in without many of the guards stopping her. Of course, she had to make sure to stay concealed and destroy as many of the guards from a safe distance as possible.

Many of the prisoners rushed past her. She directed them outside, giving them the safest route to Lard Nar's ship. They thanked her and continued running to their sanctuary. All of those prisoners had been at this prison for a long time, so they were more than eager to leave.

Eventually, Ixane ran into a familiar face. She cocked her head before stopping in front of a Vortian who seemed to be leading several prisoners outside of the facility. "Are you Prisoner 777?" she asked calmly.

" _Former_ Prisoner 777," he quickly corrected her in his deep voice. "And you're in my way. What are you doing?"

"I'm a part of the rescue party," Ixane said. "Follow your fellow inmates through the route that I instructed them. Your friend Lard Nar will be waiting for you outside with a ship to take you and your friends away from here."

777's eyes widened a bit. That was not a name that he thought he would be hearing. Someone had truly come to rescue them. He did not want to stand there and continue thinking about it. 777 had a bunch of Vortians waiting for his next order. "Lead the way," he said, a bit softer but still commanding.

Ixane nodded. This was as far as she was going to go anyways, since she didn't want to risk her life or any other lives. She quickly moved away, trying to find a safe spot where she could escape.

777 and the prisoners began to run out the way that they came in. 777, along with a few other prisoners, picked up weapons from downed guards on the way out. They were more than pleased to see many of them dead. Many of the guards in the complex left a heavy impression on many of the prisoners. Some of the prisoners were glad that they would not have to deal with their pain and suffering any longer.

After turning several more corners in the maze-like facility, Ixane and 777 finally passed the final wall and managed to exit the prison. 777 shielded his eyes from the sunlight the moment that he stepped outside. This was the first time he'd been out there since his capture. It was both a delightful and blinding sight to behold for him and the other prisoners.

They didn't have any time to take it all in. There were still many soldiers shooting at the prisoners. A couple of them went down, much to 777's dismay. He shot at them, managing to kill one of the guards.

"This way," Ixane said as she pointed over to Lard Nar and his ship. Thankfully, two more ships joined it, allowing for more prisoners to fit. She and 777 then began to run, shooting at anything that got in their way.

777 had his focus on getting rid of the irkens and making sure that all of his fellow former prisoners were safe. Although he wasn't able to protect _all_ of them, he was willing to put in as much effort to make sure that a majority made it out alive.

Though, once he made it to the ships, his focus shifted. He looked at Lard Nar for a moment, almost surprised to see his face again. He blinked a couple of times as he collected all of his thoughts. "To tell you the truth, I never believed I would ever see you again."

"The feeling is mutual, my friend," Lard Nar said. "But we're not done yet. Get yourself and your friends into the ship now. Minimize the lives lost."

777 nodded, keeping himself focused on survival. Irkens were still roaming around everywhere and shooting at some of his men and women. He wasn't going to allow that to continue. "Everyone get inside the ship!" he yelled. They all followed his command and began piling into the ships. Each ship then were closed and lifted off of the ground as they were filled to capacity. This left only Lard Nar's ship and a small handful of people.

"Okay, this is the final call!" Lard Nar exclaimed. "Everyone onboard. I'm afraid we cannot wait any longer." Lard Nar saw the irkens gaining on him, but he had some of his own defenses to make sure that he didn't get shot. Lard Nar, though, was more concerned for everyone else's safety. He pushed Ixane and 777 on-board, along with several other species before eventually stepping aboard.

While his back was turned and the shuttle door was closing, an irken managed to put in a good shot and graze Lard Nar's arm. The damage wasn't too bad, just a bad scar, but the pain was agonizing. He dropped to the ground, gripping his arm.

777 knelt down next to him. "Lard Nar, are you alright?"

Lard Nar took a few deep breaths. He was trying his best to get through the pain, but eventually his body began to work through it. It became a more bearable, and Lard Nar began to chuckle.

777 cocked his head to the side. "What's so funny?"

He chuckled a bit more. "We actually did it. A successful prison raid and rescue mission. I never thought I would see the day."

777 smiled a bit, putting a hand on Lard Nar's good shoulder. "Trust me, with all of the recruits that we just salvaged from the prison, I'm thinking we're going to have a lot more success in our future."

Lard Nar smiled. "I'm looking forward to see what it looks like."

The ships continued to return to the main Resisty ship. Due to Shloonk's masterful hacking skills, the ships surrounding were not able to pursue or attack them. They were thankful that the Massive wasn't around. They knew that that was the only ship that they didn't have the potential to take on.

Later that evening, Lard Nar, Spleenk, Shloonk, and Ixane watched as 777 devoured all of the food in front of him. It's as if he had never seen what real food looked like, but… the fact of the matter was, he hadn't been fed something real and reasonable ever since he got captured.

"You're going to need some air eventually," Lard Nar said, slightly disgusted by the rate of 777's consumption.

777 swallowed all of the contents in his mouth before saying, "I know. But it's just so… delicious. But I'll slow down. I might start vomiting later… and eat some more."

Ixane blinked. "Charming." She reached out her hand and said, "I don't believe we've officially met, though. I'm Ixane. Nice to meet you, 777"

777 reached out his hand and shook Ixane's. "Wally, actually." he eventually said. "I'd rather not go by prison number." He cleared his throat. "And I apologize for my current behavior. I'm not normally like this, I swear."

"Yes, yes," Ixane said, nodding. "I'm sure it's going to take some time getting used to living around here."

"You are planning to stay, right?" Lard Nar asked.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Wally said. "I've become close friends with many of the former inmates, and they look up to me. If many of them stay, I'll need to help them get accustomed to their new lives. Some of them were young when they were captured and grew up in the prisons."

"I'm glad you see it that way, Wally," Lard Nar said, smiling. "Well, it's nice to have you here. We just added Spleenk to the group, and it's good to have you too."

Spleenk nodded, smiling a bit. He looked away for a moment, then over at Lard Nar. "What's going to happen with the inmates?"

"They're going to spend the night here," Lard Nar said. "We have another ship elsewhere, but it's going to take time to get it over here. For now… we do not have enough rooms, so some of you are going to have to share. I have capacity for 4 people in my quarters, so Spleenk, Shloonk, and 777, if you want to spend the night with me, you're welcome to. Ixane, I understand you enjoy your… privacy."

"Thank you for recognizing that," Ixane said. "Though, if it comes down to it, one of the new recruits can come to stay with me."

"Thank you for the offer, Lard Nar," Wally started, "but I think I'll sleep on the bridge. Perhaps look out into space for once."

"And I don't need a bed, so I'm just gonna wander around and say hi to everyone. Maybe sleep in the kitchen!" Shloonk exclaimed.

Wally simply stared at Shloonk for a moment, but then looked away. He hadn't seen someone quite so odd.

"Alright, well then I guess it just leaves Spleenk and… I," Lard Nar stuttered, looking over at Spleenk. He then looked at the table. "Yeah, Spleenk and I. Moving on. Tomorrow morning, we will gather the recruits and ask all of them if they would like to stay or go. The people who want to stay are welcome to and will get official rooms and jurisdictions. The people leaving will all go to a secure planet where they'll be safe from the irkens."

Wally nodded. "Thank you. I speak for all of them, thank you. This wouldn't have worked nearly as well if your rescue team didn't make a surprise visit."

"Then I'll have you meet Encephalo," Lard Nar said. "He's the one who discovered the breech in security. I'm assuming that was your doing."

"Yes, and I'm more than proud of that," Wally said, smiling. He looked down at his plate, completely empty other than a few extra crumbs. "I'm just glad that it's over." He slid out of his chair and stood up, wiping the crumbs off of his lap. "I think I'm going to head to the bridge and get comfortable. I'll talk to you all in the morning."

"Good night," everyone said at different times. Wally, the former prisoner 777, began to walk over to the bridge, Feeling free as he did so.

One-by-one, the rest of them left to go to their respective sleeping areas, eventually leaving Lard Nar and Spleenk alone. It started with awkward silence, but there were clearly many thoughts going through each of their heads.

"Shloonk said something… interesting to me earlier," Spleenk eventually said, dissolving the silence. "During the prison break. He was talking about, um…" Spleenk then froze up a bit. He didn't know exactly what to say. Sometimes being around Lard Nar made him feel so much smaller than he was, mainly because he knew what kind of good Lard Nar was capable of.

And there was potential that Lard Nar thought of him more than as a friend? Spleenk had trouble grasping at that fact.

"He was talking about lasers."

Lard Nar blinked, thinking how that was a strange thing to say… especially since he thought that Spleenk would say something entirely different. Shloonk was always awful at keeping secrets… and yet Lard Nar still told him everything. The fact the Lard Nar held up some kind of interest for Spleenk. It was just a subtle conversation, and now Lard Nar felt like he was going to regret it. "Oh, well… he really likes lasers. They're nice. They make a lot of light and can do damage." Lard Nar rubbed his arm.

"How is your arm?" Spleenk asked, looking at Lard Nar's damaged arm. It was wrapped in a neatly-done cast. That was Ixane's specialty. Lard Nar was sure that it would heal within a couple of days.

"Recovering. It doesn't hurt nearly as much anymore," Lard Nar said. Then there was another lull in the conversation, leaving them in silence once again. "I think… I think I'm going to go to bed, Spleenk. Feel free to come to the room whenever you like. Don't be afraid to wake me up." Lard Nar slowly got out of the seat and began walking to the exit of the mess hall.

Spleenk, in some way, wanted to stop Lard Nar and tell him the truth of what Shloonk told him. But with the mix of his exhaustion and his major inability of saying the right words at the right time, Spleenk couldn't bring himself to say anything.


	3. Troublesome Kids

Lard Nar moved his body around as he tried to get himself comfortable. He was laying on a blue-grey rubber mat in the center of the bridge. He looked to his right, staring at Wally who was laying on the same mat. "That sounds awful, Wally," he whispered in a low tone. "Though I'm not surprised that the irkens would be so brutal."

"That actually isn't the worst of it," Wally said in a deep voice. "They may have been physically brutal, but they really enjoy embarrassing the other Vortians. And sometimes, that's much worse." He looked over at Lard Nar. "Let's just say that some of the guys will be spending more time away from their rooms."

Lard Nar frowned, looking at the screen in front of him. It was always relaxing to look at the empty space that was displayed in front of him. He would've constantly been outside if it were possible. "I think I might design a viewing platform for this ship," he said, making a tangent from the previous conversation. "So that anyone can just sit and look outside. Watch all of the planets pass by without having to see it on a screen on the bridge."

"I don't object," Wally responded. He brought his legs forward and crossed his hands behind his head.

Lard Nar took a deep breath, trying his best not to get an image of what Wally and the others had to go through while in prison. "So do you think that very many of them are going to decide to stay?"

"I honestly don't know," Wally responded, looking up at the ceiling. "I know that if they had the choice, many of them would want to return to Vort. But that's not an option. So… I guess many of them will see this ship as the only home that they know."

"Well, then I guess I'll leave you to make them feel as welcome as possible," Lard Nar muttered. "After all, they know you the best."

"Eh, sometimes that's not exactly the best thing, but sure. I'll take on the job as official babysitter."

"What are you guys talking about?"

Lard Nar and Wally slowly lifted their heads up from their mats and turned to find Shloonktapooxis floating above them. "Ah, Shloonk. We're just talking about the new recruits."

"Ah yeah, they're cool guys. They told stories _all-night_. Some of them were really awesome… others not so much." Shloonk frowned for a couple of moments, but then smiled again.

"Maybe I should go check on them," Wally said, getting up and brushing out the wrinkles in his new uniform. "They're still getting used to the not-prison life, so the whole idea of sleeping soundly probably seemed foreign to them. Where are they?"

"A lot of them are hanging in the mess hall," Shloonk replied. "I helped make them some breakfast."

"Oh, good," Wally said, rubbing his stomach. "I actually could use some breakfast." He turned back to Lard Nar. "Care to join me, Lard Nar?"

Lard Nar stood up, shaking his head. "I'll join you later. I actually want to talk to Shloonk for a little bit."

"I'll save you a seat," Wally said before walking off.

Shloonk watched Wally walk away for a moment before turning back to Lard Nar. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I couldn't sleep at all because I was sharing a room with Spleenk," Lard Nar said without hesitation. He took a deep breath. "See, that's normal for me, because I've never had a friend sleep in the same room as me. I just couldn't think about the whole prison situation with Spleenk in the same room."

"You two are just cute together," Shloonk said, winking.

"Shut it," Lard Nar said in a hoarse tone. "But here's the problem. Spleenk wasn't sleeping either. He just kept turning in his bed, which wouldn't be a problem, if he didn't start whispering to himself."

"Do you know what he was whispering?"

"No…" Lard Nar muttered. "But he was saying _something_ , and it was clearly making him uncomfortable. It was definitely making me uncomfortable. Did you say anything to him?"

"Nothing that he shouldn't know."

"What does that mean?" Lard Nar exclaimed.

"I just think that if you have a crush on Spleenk, you should be able to say your feelings to him," Shloonk said. "I only have your _greatest_ wants and desires at heart, Lard Nar."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's true," Lard Nar said sarcastically. "The only problem with that statement is that I don't have a crush on Spleenk. You just made that up from when I talked to you last time." Lard Nar hesitated. "Spleenk's just a friend. Can you please just… drop it? And don't say anything else to Spleenk. It's only going to make us more uncomfortable and I have to stay in the same room as him."

"I'm just trying to help, Lard Nar. We're friends."

"I appreciate that, but it isn't necessary," Lard Nar replied, patting Shloonk on the side of his metal shell. "Even if I did have a crush on Spleenk, I have it completely under control."

"Alright, then," Shloonk said with a hint of doubt before floating off.

* * *

Wally sat down at a table with many of his friends from the prison. Several of them were Vortians, colors ranging from several shades of blue to pink, much like Wally. There were also some other aliens sitting there, though they were considered to be equals as they were also prisoners of the Irken war. "That Shloonk guy may be weird, but he sure is a good cook." Wally nibbled on a piece of meat and muttered, "How can he even cook without any arms?"

"He plugs himself into a device next to the stove," a grey Vortian replied before taking a sip from her brown drink. "He controls a pair of arms from the console and he prepares the food with them."

"Interesting," Wally replied enthusiastically, bringing down his food with a little bit of water.

"You look well," someone said from behind Wally.

Wally turned around, finding Ixane right behind him. "Thank you, I slept better than I have in years."

"That's good to hear," Ixane said in her normal calm voice. "You may sleep on the bridge as many times as you wish. We'll try not to disturb you."

Wally chuckled a bit. "I'll keep that in mind." He looked past her for a moment and stared at many of the empty tables. "How about we sit over there? Lard Nar said he's going to join us soon."

"Oh, I don't want to pull you away from your group," Ixane replied. "I'm fine with just sitting by myself."

"No, it's alright," Wally said, standing up and grabbing his tray of food. "There are a few things I wanted to discuss with you anyways." He walked over to an empty table and sat down.

"Oh?" Ixane asked, sitting across from him. "And what is that?"

"I need to ask you a small favor," Wally said. "Which, judging by the magnitude of our situation, could actually turn out to be a big favor."

Ixane chuckled. "We've only just met and you're already asking me for big favors. You must trust me."

"Well, you and Lard Nar seem to be good friends, so you must be a trustworthy person." Wally took a bite out of a tan-colored substance, giving a delighted grin as his taste buds took it in. He swallowed before saying, "We're going to have a lot of people onboard for the next couple of days and I'm sure many of them can take care of themselves and will be well-mannered while they're here." Wally sighed. "However, I'm a bit worried that some of the younger ones who've spent a long time in the prisons won't quite know right from wrong and may act a bit… brash."

"You're not asking me to be a babysitter, are you?" Ixane asked, her glowing eyes blinking underneath her cloak. "I don't think you understand my ability in dealing with young ones, or anyone for that matter."

"Not a babysitter," Wally replied, wagging his finger. "I think supervisor is a more appropriate term. Stepping in and stopping any bad behavior before it turns into anything worse."

"I think I'd rather be a babysitter."

"Don't worry about it." Wally placed a hand over his chest. "I'll be helping you with any problems, should they arise. Trust me, I know these kids, and they all know that they need to listen to their Uncle Wally. Plus, we have many others on here who could lend their paternal instincts."

"I think Uncle Wally is a bit over his head," Ixane remarked with a hint of sass, cocking her head to the side.

"It'll be fine," he said, crossing his arms. "It's only for a couple of days, after all. What's the worst that can happen?"

"No one asks that unless they have a death wish," Ixane said before chuckling.

Lard Nar walked into the room, Shloonktapooxis floating in shortly after him. Lard Nar went to Wally and Ixane's table and gently placed his hands down. "Many of the others are awake. I think we should call them to the bridge and give them an update on what's to happen for the next few days."

"Okay," Wally said, before taking his empty tray of food and putting it to the side. He and Ixane stood up from the table and followed Lard Nar towards the exit. "So where's Spleenk at this early hour? He seemed like a jolly, morning person to me."

"Jolly is definitely not the term I'd put in for Spleenk," Shloonk said. "More like scaredy cat."

Lard Nar sighed. "I'm afraid Spleenk is still asleep. So… no. Not a morning person." Lard Nar knew better, though. At this point, Spleenk would've have gotten only a couple hours of uninterrupted sleep and he had no plans of waking him up just for the meeting.

* * *

Lard Nar stared up at the crowd of mixed aliens in the room. Behind him and to the sides were the current crew of the Resisty, including Spleenk, who had sleepily walked in as Lard Nar started talking.

"Before the rescue ships arrive to pick many of you up in a couple of days, you will be calling this ship your home. Before I can release you, I must lay down a few guidelines that you must follow during your stay here." Lard Nar kept his posture up, trying to look as professional as possible. "Number one, treat your peers kindly and without violence. We are all friends here and we have no intentions of starting any internal… _drama_."

"Number two," Lard Nar continued, "certain parts of the ship are restricted to anyone other than the engineers standing behind me. This includes any electrical rooms, the air ducts, and most importantly, the warp core room. There are many dangers inside that can not only get yourself killed but could also destroy the warp core and leave this ship stranded. You have been warned."

There was a dead silence flowing through the room, feeling a bit cold after Lard Nar's last statement.

"Those are the only two rules, other than general rules of common sense," Lard Nar said. "Break these rules and there will surely be consequences." Though Lard Nar hadn't thought of any consequences. "Any questions?"

The room remained silent again.

"Good. You may now return to what you were doing." Lard Nar took a deep breath, surprised with himself that he actually took charge like that.

Everyone else scattered and many of the crewmembers went to their stations. Lard Nar, Ixane, Shloonk, Spleenk, and Wally gathered together.

"Well, now I don't think we have anything to worry about," Wally remarked, laughing a bit. "You may have scared them to the point that they're too afraid to do anything stupid."

"You weren't paying attention," Ixane said. "I could see two Vortian children snickering towards the back. I sense a couple of troublemakers."

"Can I trust you to keep everyone in check?" Lard Nar asked Wally.

"Of course you can," Wally said. "They know and respect me. They were only snickering at you because you sound like a Tallest."

"Do not," Lard Nar growled. "But fine, then I'll let you do whatever you need to do. Just make sure that none of them blow up my ship."

"Yes, sir," Wally said, saluting. He walked off, taking Ixane with him.

"We're screwed, aren't we?" Shloonk asked after Wally and Ixane got a decent distance away.

"Most definitely," Lard Nar muttered.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then," Shloonk said. "I have to do something on Deck 3. The phaser controls are acting up again." Shloonk began to float away.

Spleenk and Lard Nar stood there in silence, watching the calm process of the bridge. After a few moments, Lard Nar couldn't take it anymore. He had to make things between him and Spleenk just a bit less awkward. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things turns out. We only have to deal with it for a few days, so it won't be for too long."

"I think it'll be fine," Spleenk said. He looked around before looking back at Lard Nar. "I'm going to go back to our quarters and relax for a little bit. Maybe we can meet for lunch later today."

"That'd be nice. Maybe we can finally catch up after being apart for so long."

"Yeah," Spleenk said, though Lard Nar thought the tone was a bit unenthusiastic. "That'd be nice." He turned around and walked off of the bridge.

Lard Nar let out a deep sigh. He wanted to return to his quarters as well, but that would only mean a couple more hours of awkward silence with Spleenk. He had to think of a game plan to rectify things so that Spleenk wouldn't feel so uncomfortable. Lard Nar returned to the captain's chair and sat down, staring at the screen in front of him.

* * *

"So tell me about yourself, Ixane," Wally said, crossing his arms behind his back. "You're this mysterious character in a group full of people that are fairly outspoken. I will admit that it is a bit strange to me."

"Oh?" Ixane asked. "Well, that makes two of us. Lard Nar is a Vortian of stability and is very serious, especially when it comes to being captain of this ship. How is it that a goofball like you ends up in a group with him?"

"No need to get sassy with me, Ixane, it was just a question." Wally chuckled. "But if you must know, Lard Nar and I were both on the project to design the Massive for the irkens. If Lard Nar is determined to fight a war against them, then I am as much a part of it as he is. I guess we have more in common than what meets the eye."

"I suppose I don't have as long of a companionship with Lard Nar. I knew him through Shloonktapooxis and we connected on more serious topics."

"Shloonktapooxis?" Wally asked, his horns perking up. "That was the last thing I expected to hear from you. You two sound like you'd never get along with your conflicting personalities."

"We didn't for a while," Ixane explained. "But believe me when I say that there's more going on in Shloonk's head than just rainbows and ponies. I'm just one of the few privileged people to find out that side of him."

"I can hardly believe it, but I guess I have a lot to learn while I'm here."

Ixane stopped Wally in the middle of the hallway. "Well if you're willing to learn, then I suppose I can help teach you to be a civil part of this ship's society."

"Hm, I was thinking Lard Nar would be the one to do all of that, but I feel a lot more comfortable in the idea of you doing it for some reason."

Ixane couldn't make an expression with her cloaked figure, but her glowing eyes squinted to signify that she was smiling. "I tend to give that impression to lots of people. Now… we have a job to do as… babysitters."

"Supervisors," Wally corrected her.

"Babysitters," she repeated. "Regardless of how many times you try to go against the word, we're still babysitters."

"It's the thought that counts, right? I'm simply giving you an alternate way to think."

Ixane opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by a couple of kids running down the hallway. The young Oriols, short brown aliens that had a small resemblance to Spleenk, were hitting each other with plastic batons.

"Hey!" Wally exclaimed. "No running in the halls! Where did you even get those?"

"None of your business, Wally!" the younger one yelled as he whacked his friend with the baton again.

"Yeah!" the other exclaimed. "We're playing Galactic Conqueror and Leon is taking over my ship."

"Well, can you bring it to a safe place?" Wally asked, approaching them. However, the only response he got was a whack on the leg before the two kids ran away in the other direction. Wally quickly turned to Ixane, a disgruntled look on his face.

Ixane let out a soft chuckle. "Well, Uncle Wally. If this is your idea of what respect is, then I believe we're in a lot of trouble."

"They do respect me," Wally said. "They're just messing around with me, of course. They've always been the troublemakers of the pack. The rest of the kids onboard were taught a lot better than that."

Almost in response to Wally saying that, a few more kids with identical batons came around the corner. One of them was an Oriol while the other two were blue Vortians. The two Vortians were fighting against the Oriol, whacking him severely until he was pushed back hard. The Oriol hit the side of the wall, making a loud thud sound that was heard throughout the hallway.

The two Vortians looked up at Wally, who was now crossing his arms and glaring at them. Instead of apologizing to the Oriol, they simply ran away, whacking each other some more in the process.

Wally nearly ran after them, yelling, but Ixane quickly grabbed his arm.

"You can punish them later," Ixane said. "But we should take care of the Oriol first."

Wally nodded and calmed down. He looked over to the Oriol and frowned as he saw the child clutch the back of his head, tears welling up in his eyes. Wally kneeled down next to him and rubbed the back of the Oriol's head. "Your name is Kelin, right?"

He nodded his head. "Yes, Mr. 777. My head hurts."

"You can just called me Wally. We're going to take you over to the medical wing and they're going to take good care of you. Okay?"

Kelin nodded his head again. He stood up again, going next to Wally. The child was nearly to Wally's height. Re-examining him, Wally could tell that he was one of the older children. "They were being mean to me. They only like talking to the other Vortian kids."

"That's because they don't know how cool the other kids are. Especially Oriols." Wally pat Kelin's back, leading him down the hallway. Ixane followed closely behind him.

* * *

"Shloonk, tell us another story."

In the mess hall, a large group of aliens were crowded around Shloonktapooxis. He was floating directly over one of the tables, telling several different stories about the few adventures that the Resisty had gone on in the past couple years. "Kids, I've been telling you stories for the past 2 hours. Don't you have anything more fun to do?"

Some of them nodded their head, but most of them said 'no'. A Vortian teenager stepped forward and said in a low voice, "We've been living in a prison for so long, Shloonk. Nothing interesting happens over there, and the actual interesting stuff isn't all that great to listen to. We want to hear stories about you guys out in space."

"Well the team is still new," Shloonk said. "We don't have a whole lot more stories yet. Maybe you can tell me some more of the stories in the prison." Shloonk wondered if that was a good idea, but he was running out of stuff to talk about.

"Didn't you just hear me?" the same Vortian asked. "Nothing else interesting happens there."

"Actually, Jive has some really awesome stories," a short brown alien said.

"Where even is Jive?" a cloaked alien said, looking in all directions.

Everyone followed their lead and looked around for Jive. Shloonk stared at all of them and asked, "Who's Jive?"

"He's one of the older Vortian kids," the cloaked alien said. "He tells us all about the stories that he hears about at the prison. Kind of like our leader."

"He might be with Kale," a blue Vortian said. "That's his best friend."

"Well you all shouldn't wandering off and roaming around the ship," Shloonk said. He meant that, but he also wanted a reason to get out of the mess hall. "All of you stay here or go back to your rooms. I'm going to go look for Jive and Kale."

"Good luck," the cloaked alien said. "He's sneaky. He knows how to get into the ventilation shafts really well."

Shloonk blinked. That didn't make him feel very comfortable. "Well, I'll find them. In case you didn't know, I'm very sneaky too." Shloonktapooxis slowly floated out of the mess hall and went down the hallway to a room that would allow him to see all of the camera feeds in order to find where all of the kids were hiding. But he only made it several feet before he ran into a running Resisty security officer. Another blue Vortian. "Wo, dude. What's with the running?"

"I need to inform the captain that there's a couple of kids crawling through the ventilation system and they've almost made their way to the Core. If they do one thing wrong while they're in there, they not only will get themselves killed, but they will also leave the entire ship stranded."

Shloonktapooxis let out a low grown. "That would be Kale and Jive. Alright, run. I'm going to try to shut off all of the vents so that they can't get any further."

The Vortian officer nodded his head and continued to run down the hallway. He went all the way down to the Bridge and stepped through the door. "Captain!" He ran up to the captain's chair where both he and Spleenk were sitting in awkward silence. "Captain, we have an emergency."

"What is it?" Lard Nar asked, his horns perking up. "Why didn't you sound the alarm first? Is it the irkens? Are they back?"

The officer shook his head. "No, right now it's worse. Two of the Vortian children have made their way into the ventilation shafts and are making their way towards the core. Shloonktapooxis is currently trying to shut off the vents to make sure they don't go any further."

"That's not a permanent solution. We can't have those shafts shut off for long or else they'll suffocate." Lard Nar quickly jumped out of his chair and grabbed Spleenk's arm. "Come on, Spleenk. We need to go quickly.

* * *

Wally waited in the hospital wing right next to Ixane. They were telling each other jokes, or rather Wally was telling Ixane jokes and she was trying her best not to groan. They just wanted to pass the time as they waited to hear about Kelin.

Eventually, one of the nurses, an Oriol just like Kelin, came out to see Wally and Ixane. "He's going to be fine," he said with a calming voice. "Just a bruise on his forehead. He's feeling a little bit groggy, so we're allowing him to stay here so he can rest. You can come back in a couple of hours and take him back to his quarters."

"Thank you," Wally said. He reached up and shook the Oriol's hand. The nurse smiled and walked back into one of the rooms.

Ixane stood up and looked down at Wally. "You know," she started with a serene voice, "you were very sensitive back there with Kelin. Almost as if you were his father."

"Oh, that was nothing," Wally said as he stood up. He led Ixane out of the medical wing. "It's like I said, many of these kids grew up in the prisons, and their actual parents were either too scared, too injured, or too dead to take care of them. I could either help them grieve for the many years of life that they lost, or I could step up and be a guardian to them."

"That must have been tough," Ixane said as she walked down the hallway with Wally.

"It was, I will admit," Wally responded. "Kelin, for example, never knew his parents. He was too young when his parents were taken away from him."

"Where were they taken?" Ixane asked.

"I only saw them get dragged from their prison cell," Wally said. "Apparently the father said something that the warden didn't take too kindly to. Anything could have happened to them, but… I'm sure we can both take a lucky guess as to where they ended up."

"How have you held it together so well?" Ixane asked.

"I'm alive, and so is everyone else on this ship," Wally said. "That was my one promise to everyone in that prison, and… now I can tell myself that I kept my promise. The irkens could beat me and emotionally scar me all they want. They can't take this away from me."

"That's very noble of you," Ixane said with a bright tone.

Wally's horns sagged backwards as he smiled. "Thank you." Wally reached out to pat Ixane on the shoulder, something he often did when he was comfortable with someone, but he was interrupted by someone running down a hallway. "Wo wo wo, don't start running on us," Wally said, quickly pulling his hand away. "If a guard is running, that means there's something wrong."

The Vortian guard, the same one that informed Shloonktapooxis of the incident, nodded his head. "I'm sorry, Wally. One of your kids are in danger."

Wally's eyes widened and he quickly ran in the direction that the guard was going in, not even knowing exactly where he was going. He just knew he had to get their quickly. The guard followed him and Ixane did the same.

* * *

Shloonktapooxis quickly flew down the hallway to find Lard Nar and Spleenk right outside one of the ventilation shafts. They were both panicking, trying to figure out what to do. "I shut off the ventilation shafts in this corridor."

"Doesn't matter," Lard Nar said as he tried to pry the ventilation grate out with his claws. "They already made it to the Core. The idiots don't plan on touching it, but now they're trapped and scared. Those are two things that kids shouldn't be when they are around dangerous areas."

"What are you going to do?" Shloonktapooxis asked.

"I'm going to pry this thing open," Lard Nar growled. "And I'm going to-…" The grate finally went loose. Lard Nar tossed it to the side. "And I'm going to make my way down there, grab the kids and make my way back."

"Lard Nar, no offence, but you're a little too small to be able to reach some of the higher grates to get back in the ventilation shaft," Spleenk said. "Besides, it's too dangerous. Let me go instead."

"It's too dangerous for me, but not for you?" Lard Nar asked, a bit aggravated.

"I don't want to see you getting hurt," Spleenk asked as he crawled over to the ventilation shaft. He was scared, but also motivated. "I'm tall and I have four arms. I'll be able to grab the two kids and still crawl through the ventilation shaft."

"Don't you dare do anything stupid, Spleenk," Lard Nar said.

"I won't," Spleenk called back as he crawled further in the shaft.

Lard Nar turned back to Shloonk. "Unblock all of the ventilation shafts. He's going to need as much access as he can get."

Shloonk turned around and quickly flew away.

Lard Nar stood there, his hands interlocked as he stared at the entrance to the ventilation shaft. He knew how frightened Spleenk could get. If anything went wrong, the Core would blow and Spleenk would be gone. "Spleenk, it's my fault that I brought you aboard this ship," Lard Nar whispered to himself. "Don't die one week in. I won't allow that to happen."

He waited, continuing to stare at the shaft until eventually he heard noises coming from inside. His horns perked up as he knelt down and looked inside. Lard Nar let out a huge breath as he saw Spleenk's head poke out from around the corner. Two Vortians were trailing behind him. In moments, they were all out, all three of them catching a breath.

Almost as soon as the three of them exited the ventilation shaft, Ixane and Wally came running around the corner. Ixane was breathing heavily and Wally was hunched over with his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He looked up at the group, then stared at Kale and Jive. "I swear…" He took a breath. "I love all of you children, but sometimes…" He took another breath. "I want to launch you out into space and make you sit out there for a while."

Jive and Kale each gave Wally a concerned look. Ixane and Wally walked forward and dragged them over to the side so that they could scold them for the stupid thing that they did.

Meanwhile, Lard Nar looked up at Spleenk. "That was really brave of you."

"It wasn't much," Spleenk said, though he knew that he was uncomfortable throughout the entire experience. "I'm just glad that they're okay. They were pretty scared while they were in there."

"Yeah… I was scared, too."

Spleenk nodded his head. Not knowing what else to say, Spleenk began to walk down the hallway again. He wanted to go back to his room, but something caught onto his lower right hand. He turned around and saw Lard Nar grabbing his hand.

"Spleenk," Lard Nar said, eventually letting go of Spleenk's hand. "Why don't we get dinner sometime? Just the two of us. I realize that we have been separated for quite some time now, and… I think we have a lot of catching up to do. I just… I just want to get to know you."

Spleenk looked down at Lard Nar, then smiled. "Okay." He turned around again and walked down the hallway.

Lard Nar took a deep breath, closing his eyes, then opening them again. "Everything will work out in the end, won't they?" Lard Nar whispered to himself.

* * *

Lard Nar, Wally, Ixane, Spleenk, and Shloonktapooxis each brought their dinner to the table. Wally groaned as he rested his head on the table. "These kids are going to be the reason I die young."

Ixane rubbed Wally's back. "Aw, you poor dramatic baby," she said nonchalantly. "If it makes you feel better, you did well today."

"What was Jive and Kale's punishment?" Spleenk asked, biting into a small sugary pastry.

"I found them some guardians to take care of them while they're here," Wally said. "So not only are they scarred for life for being obscenely close to a deadly ship core, which they each have burns to remind them of, but now they have supervisors to keep them occupied like they're little Hornlings. It's a win-win for all of us."

"That doesn't sound like a win-win at all," Lard Nar said, chuckling.

Wally rubbed his head. "Yeah, well… it's a win-win for me. These kids are going to leave, then finally I can get some sleep."

"I take my comment back," Ixane said, stirring her dark brown soup. "You're more of a poor dramatic great-grandfather who wants everyone to leave them alone."

Everyone at the table laughed. Spleenk reached forward and patted Wally on the back as Wally groaned and whined.


End file.
